Welcome to Windows 7 Forums. Our forum is dedicated to helping you find support and solutions for any problems regarding your Windows 7 PC be it Dell, HP, Acer, Asus or a custom build. We also provide an extensive Windows 7 tutorial section that covers a wide range of tips and tricks.

Let's start with this snap below. I only ever use the C "boot" partition for booting, yet somehow years ago when I went from XP to 7 I ended up with these partitions, a legacy from way earlier when my techy buddy set up my XP. Everything works smoothly, though, except for one problem. The tech at this one Backupper image utility says to allow for a proper system restore from a saved image I should choose "System Backup" in the utility. OK then, in that process the program insists on including not only my preferred C (boot) partition but this unwanted E (system) partition. When I do that, things go smoothly, but the image becomes significantly larger, taking up precious "J" USB storage, plus it takes longer. Since I couldn't change Backupper I figured I'd Format the unused E. But Windows refuses, I guess since it's the 'system'. I'd really like to zero out the used space there. Is there any way?

When you're ready to get rid of XPired we can help you move the System boot files to Win7 and recover the disk space to the partition of your choice, or a new partition. The disk is not a junkyard to keep spare OS's laying around unused. Now may be the time to consider doing a perfect Clean Reinstall Windows 7 since Win7 is at the slow end of the hard drive now anyway.

In addition you can decide if you want 32 or 64 bit Win7 and delete the other one to reclaim that space too. The general rule of thumb is if you have 4gb or more RAM to use 64 bit, but for less than that I would use 32 bit for best performance.

If you wish to keep the multi-boot then you can use an imaging app that allows flexibility as to which partition it includes and where it can recover them which the Win7 backup imaging can't. A favorite one here is Macrium Imaging - Windows 7 Help Forums

Perhaps consider going with and using Acronis True Image, I can click on any single partition to backup at a time; although it too suggests both cdrive and system reserved partition -- I unclick SysRes, and continue with backup of cdrive; later, I backup ddrive.

When you're ready to get rid of XPired we can help you move the System boot files to Win7 and recover the disk space to the partition of your choice, or a new partition. The disk is not a junkyard to keep spare OS's laying around unused. Now may be the time to consider doing a perfect Clean Reinstall Windows 7 since Win7 is at the slow end of the hard drive now anyway.

In addition you can decide if you want 32 or 64 bit Win7 and delete the other one to reclaim that space too. The general rule of thumb is if you have 4gb or more RAM to use 64 bit, but for less than that I would use 32 bit for best performance.

If you wish to keep the multi-boot then you can use an imaging app that allows flexibility as to which partition it includes and where it can recover them which the Win7 backup imaging can't. A favorite one here is Macrium Imaging - Windows 7 Help Forums

This new snap should work for you, below. Maximizing seemed excessive on 1920. I do use Macrium as well as this Aomei, and with Macrium I only image C. I always do them both the same day right after some C disc cleaning. It's been years since I restored from the Macrium, though, not sure how it's working. And I didn't ask Macrium people about any need to do a 'system' instead of a 'partition' image. I don't want to go through a restore as an experiment, only after a bad crash. Btw, I'm on 64 with 8gb. I also would prefer to avoid a new clean install as I've got this happily tweaked and also don't notice any annoying slowness. Your other ideas for help sound good. As for Acronis, that was the very first imaging program I ever used. Great at the time but seemed to get bloated. About my Specs, I'd already snapped this Speccy before I just read about your SystemInfo and then about needing IE to fill in the info.

This leaves Win7 on the slower right side of the HD. A better option would be to use PW to delete 32 bit Win7 and the empty Apps partition since Programs should always be on C with the image. Make a new Storage partition there to move the data from G, then delete G to Extend C into the deleted E and G space. You may need to Modify>Set to Inactive to get D to Delete, I don't know why D is Active since only the System partition should ever be Active. Does it boot itself through the BIOS Boot Menu, something we can't see since System Flag is not showing?

This would leave you with a full disk C partition and two full disk Storage partitions. Does this suit you?

Thanks again Greg, yes a successful result of this EasyBCD/P-Wizard process would suit me just fine. I've actually used the Minitool PW before without too much hassle. And once before I dl'd EasyBCD but backed off trying to do anything with it. If the drives are out does it also work off a burned boot CD? Whine, unplugging drives is for me easier said than done. I'd have to lift the PC without my legs in the lift, not just open the side, and I have a fractured spine (lifting problem), so a job like this is better left until I can get someone over. Plus, I'd hope to get a tech for this, as EasyBCD and fiddling with the BIOS is something I'd only do with smart help around. It reminds me of the time I burnt my car to the ground trying to do my first ever tune-up. Murphy's Law.

For now, if fixing this minor imaging quibble is going to take this much work and risk I guess I'd rather live with the quibble. But I will save and print this thread for the next time I need to open the case for some other upgrade.

A better option would be to use PW to delete 32 bit Win7 and the empty Apps partition since Programs should always be on C with the image. Make a new Storage partition there to move the data from G, then delete G to Extend C into the deleted E and G space. You may need to Modify>Set to Inactive to get D to Delete, I don't know why D is Active since only the System partition should ever be Active. Does it boot itself through the BIOS Boot Menu, something we can't see since System Flag is not showing?

OK Greg, here's the status now. I succeeded in using BCD to rid the 'System' from E. After a reboot now the C is both 'System' and 'Boot'. I've also reviewed the PW stuff, made a CD, and am ready to boot on it. But it's time to pause now for these reasons:

1. I don't know whether D is booting "itself through the BIOS Boot Menu". In 12 years on PC I've only been into the BIOS twice and I'm a tad reluctant to go back in by myself.

2. I'm not sure your plan for the partitions suits me after all. First, 'tho F/Apps seems empty, it really isn't, there are several working programs there that would take me a long time to rebuild from installer CDs. So I'd prefer to leave F as is. Further, I see no need to do anything with my G/Media, and certainly don't want to extend C into any other space. For now I have plenty of C space, and anyway my objective is to make the backup image only image C, with no E at all, to save backup image space and time. Would extending C into the current E space cause the backup to be bigger than the current C? It seems getting rid of E would make me happy here, dumping D too would be gravy. F and G need to stay, with C.

So, I'm not sure what to do with the PW process. I do have and use Skype and Teamviewer if that would help.

backup boot imaging insists on unused and unwanted partition

system image insists on imaging three drivesHi,
I have a multi boot system, Windows 8, Windows 7(64bit) both on seperate drives, as well as an Adaptec Raid card (2805) with a couple of raid 10 raids. The ssd drive with Windows 7 was attached via an Asus U3S6 pcie Sata 3 card.
I've now replaced the 2805 with Adaptec 21605, I also got rid...

Backup and Restore

Win7 insists to reinstall GPU drivers on bootHello,
I have a strange problem with my current rig-except a cold boot-on the last few weeks.
Whenever I boot the first time of the day (never happens on reboot) Windows is trying to reinstall the GPU drivers as you can see from the pic
I have no idea why this is happening. Anyone with...

Graphic Cards

Backup and System Imaging - creating and testingI am new to Windows 7 and would like to Image my system and Backup files.
From the Control Panel - "Backup and Restore' -
I started by creating a System Image to an external HDD and noted that folder 'WindowsImageBackup' was created. Then I created a 'system repair disk'
Following that - I...

Backup and Restore

What is Ghost Imaging Backup, in detailsHello peeps!
I'm a newbie here. Sorry if the title is so lame, but I do have to do some research :D
Ghost Imaging Backup --> I'm confused with this.
What is the detail meaning of Ghost Imaging Backup? What I understand is the purpose is to do backup, but then, is it used to backup system...

Backup and Restore

How do I remove Unused Partition in Windows 7I have a HP Notebook and it has a 12 gb unused partition that I tried to delete that was used for "HP System Recovery" (Press F10) which reinstalled XP each time from the original installation . Now that is not needed because I am using Acronis Home 2010 Disk Imaging and can restore my computer...

General Discussion

Can you schedule disk imaging like you can with backup?Just wondering if this can be done in the background on a regular schedule, either via Windows Backup or a third party program. And if it can be does it require a deletion/re-imaging of the old file, or can it just tack on whatevers changed/added to it? This part is important, as I would'nt have...